As one of my favourite holidays approaches, I’ve started my preparations. The Christmas tree is decorated and shining, my kitchen smells like heaven (and an easy gain of 3kgs) and the city is chilly with a slight smell of burning wood. You see it in the streets, at your homes… everywhere! Christmas is on its way. Santa’s tiny helpers are working hard to prepare gifts and everyone is about to enjoy their vacation. But according to various cultures, many creatures are waiting in the dark to sabotage the joy and bring mischief upon the earth. Naughty children are first on their list and therefore should be careful!
First up we have Gryla and the Yule Cat. These two Icelandic creatures are masters at sensing naughty children and set out every Christmas to find them. Gryla is said to be a giant-ogre creature. She lives deep in the mountains where she hides. During the holidays, she looks for little kids to kidnap, puts them in her big sack, and carries them back into her cave to turn them into a stew. She might have some company as well, usually her 13 unruly children and the Yule Cat. We’re talking about a cat with a sense of style! She goes from window to window and checks out if the children have gotten new clothes for Christmas. If not, these little ones might be naughty, therefore shall be eaten.
Next up is Perchta. A dual-gendered spirit that often appears as a beautiful woman or a haggard crone. Sharing the same goals with the previous creatures, she looks for naughty children during the 12 days of Christmas and if she finds them, she creates a quite graphic image of emptying their bellies and stuffing them with straw…(I suddenly feel sorry for the children who grew up listening to this particular story). Tracing her origins led to finding out that she probably comes from Celtic traditions of the Alpine regions, in the Early Middle Ages.
Anyone here a horse lover? Yup, you are going to love this one! Mari Lwyd is a Welsh ghost-like creature that consists of a horse skull on top of a pole, covered with a long white sheet. The person under the sheet along with his company goes from door to door asking people to let them in after singing a song. If the owner of the house doesn’t, they sing again, until the owner gives in. In that case, Mari Lwyd and her company are offered food and drinks. The presence of this creature in the house is said to cast away anything unwanted, so you are supposed to let it in eventually.
Last but not least, Hans Trapp. He was said to be a wealthy, yet horrible man who ended up being excommunicated from the Catholic church. Having lost his reputation and faith, he sold his soul to the devil, and until the day he died he was lurking in forests, trying to hurt little children. One day, he tried to kill a child and eat it, but God, having had enough of his malice, killed him instantly with lightning. This creature shares similarities with Hans Von Troth, a 15th-century German knight with a terrible reputation. At some point, he even participated in a land dispute. He ordered the Wieslauter River blocked and the nearby village was completely deprived of access to water. When the time came, he destroyed the dam and the village was flooded, along with its economy demolished. For his actions, Von Troth was excommunicated from the Catholic church.
Make sure that you’ve been nice this year because otherwise, you might be exactly what these creatures are looking for!
Γέννημα θρέμμα Στερεάς Ελλάδας και φοιτήτρια της Αγγλικής φιλολογίας. Pop culture expert (στο περίπου) και cinematic nerd με κρυφό όνειρο να ασχοληθώ με την κριτική κινηματογράφου. Θα με βρείτε συνήθως με ακουστικά στα αυτιά να ακούω μουσική ή να χαζεύω σκονισμενες βιβλιοθήκες, εκτός αν ειμαι σε road trip κοντα στη φύση (θα κοιτάω τα δέντρα σαν τον Tolkien). Πολύ ήρεμη βέβαια καυστική, old soul και γεμάτη περιέργεια για τη ζωή ολίγον τι έντονη και ξεροκέφαλη, με την ελπίδα ότι τα άρθρα μου θα σας κρατήσουν καλή συντροφιά!
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